Routine Placement & Show Structure

“Well, that trick certainly doesn’t fit THERE,” I thought.

I was nearing the end of my school assembly. It had been going exceptionally well.

I only had the finale to go, then I could close the show, dismiss the kids, and pack up and go home.

I’ve been fighting a persistent cough and head cold for three weeks. All I want to do is sit at my desk and write, or sit on the couch and watch cartoons.

But right before I prepared to do my final routine, I looked in my table and realized I had completely forgotten one effect.

To be honest, it was only a two-minute routine. And I was pretty close to hitting my time for the show.

But I liked the trick and knew the kids would like it too. So I did the routine.

It got…an okay reaction.

I was surprised, but only mildly so.

I had fine-tuned this show so every trick and routine was in the perfect spot.

The trick I had forgotten was RD Insta by Henry Harrius. Great trick, simple awesome.

Typically I use it very early in the show for this particular assembly. It’s part of my anti-bullying show for grades 3-6.

I have a wonderful double-message for it that ties the trick in perfectly. And the effect itself is great because it helps reinforce my cred with these older hard-to-please kids.

My shows for older kids, when possible, open with a series of WOW moments to show the kids I’m worth paying attention to.

I don’t do any change bag routines of silly magic wand gags for older kids. Instead, I want to stun them.

So my first trick, set to music, just stuns them. Then my first talking piece rachets up the amazement. Then comes RD Insta. It’s three routines that lay the groundwork for the messages of the show. And all three are like gut-punches in that they really impress these older kids.

But when I tried inserting RD Insta into the show right before the finale, the reaction was muted.

I tried wedging it in between two larger, powerful effects.

The timing wasn’t right.

And that’s a critical secret of a great show.

Having each routine in just the right spot.

And don’t misunderstand me…I feel this is just as important with a non-themed, noneducational show.

Each routine should be in the right place at the right time.

So how do you structure a show?

Many of us, justifiably, put a thought of thought and care into our openers and closers.

That makes sense. The opener is your first impression. You can grab the audience’s attention with the right opener…or you can lose it in an instant.

And your closer is the last thing your audience sees. It’s what you want to leave them with.

But what about everything in the middle?

For me, I generally try to do two things with my shows, especially my kids shows.

First, after the opener, I try to have a slow escalation. Trick three is more impressive than trick two. Trick four is more impressive than trick three, and so on.

It doesn’t always end up like that, but that’s what I strive for. In my case, since I’m doing mostly educational shows, I often have to throw this rule out because a certain routine (and thus trick) must come at a specific time to teach the lessons in the right order.

The other framework I try to follow is to alternate routines that require no volunteers with ones that do.

This helps prevent a ‘feeding frenzy’ as kids' hands start shooting up in the air before the last trick is finished, as they want to get picked for what they anticipate will be another volunteer routine.

Again, sometimes I have to abandon this based on my needs for the flow of lessons in an educational show.

Everything I wrote sounds logical and makes sense.

But there’s also the gut feeling part of it. When you’ve been performing for a long time, you develop a sort of ‘sixth sense’ of where to put certain routines.

So you try stuff and see how it goes.

Here’s the best part: Once you have a structure in place, you can likely duplicate it for additional shows.

I’ll use middle schools as a concrete example.

When I do a middle school show, there are certain elements I want in every show, if possible.

I want a ‘danger’ type routine. I want a routine where I get multiple kids on stage. I want to get a teacher on stage at some point, which always goes over really well. If possible, I want something a little spooky.

I use this ‘template’ to duplicate my first draft of a new show when building another one.

But the most important piece of advice I can give is simply this: Listen to your audience.

I remain flabbergasted by how often magicians stubbornly keep a routine in their show because THEY like it, not because their audiences like it.

If a routine fits your character and your audiences like it, keep it.

If the routine doesn’t get the reaction you were hoping for, try reworking it. If you just can’t get it to work, cut it.

Your audience’s reactions should be your primary driver for deciding what to keep and what to cut in all your shows.

--Cris

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